Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News quick-posted a story after Lakers practice, quoting Kobe Bryant on last night’s trade that sent Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks:
“I don’t like it. To be honest with you, I don’t like it. I’ve known Lamar for a long time and for the team itself, he’s meant a lot. From a team chemistry standpoint, he was great at bringing guys together and things of that nature. I trust that management knows what they’re doing. I’ll let them doing their jobs. I won’t get in the way of it. It’s tough. … “You’re talking about the Sixth Man of the Year last year. He played lights out. I don’t understand the criticism of the reality shows and this and that. I don’t get it. I don’t understand that. He had his best season last year. It clearly wasn’t a distraction. He played his ass off. I don’t get where that comes from. Now, I’m getting pissed off. Especially (trading Odom) to them (Dallas). We were supposed to get them back. Do I think we got too little? Who did we get? I don’t think Mark Cuban is protesting this trade.”
We’ll see if Bryant changes his tune if the Lakers are able to get Dwight Howard in a trade with the Magic.